Patented document 1 discloses an example of a system in which a robot grows by modifying a function or adding a function according to its internal status, to provide a user with higher affinity and satisfaction, to thereby upgrade the amusing performance as a robot. In this relation, a technique of transferring data including a program to the robot from a remote server computer via a network to add the function is known as a method of modifying or adding the function, and an example of the conventional system is described in patented document 2.
The system employs a means by which the user selects data to be incorporated according to his/her taste from the server computer selling the data; the selected data is transferred to a personal terminal of the user via the network; and the user further transfers the data to an external memory such as a memory card, and inserts the memory in the robot thus to incorporate the data. This conventional example cannot be applied to the purpose of spontaneous modification of the function by the robot represented by the growth, because the type of the data to be newly incorporated into the robot and the timing for the incorporation are determined by the user of the robot.
Another conventional example is found in patented document 3, which discloses a system of transferring new data from the server computer to the robot without the intermediation of the user. In such conventional example, the type of the data to be newly incorporated into the robot and the timing for the incorporation are determined by the program incorporated in the robot, and therefore the system is applicable to a purpose such as the growth.
However, when the growth can be branched into a plurality of option according to the utilization status of the user, making the robot grow only with the program incorporated in the robot according to the method provided by the patented document 3 is not effective. It is because the option of growth selected by the program in the robot may not be in accordance with the robot user's taste, because the user's taste is not taken into consideration, unlike the system of the patented document 2. In this case, the user may significantly lose affection for the robot.
Such problem may also arise from the determination of the timing for the growth. According to the manner of the patented document 3, the timing for the growth is exclusively determined by the program installed in the robot, and hence the growth is executed regardless of the user's intention, even though the user loves the current state and wants to postpone the growth. Thus, the conventional techniques are unable to involve both of the program of the robot and the intention of the user, in determining the orientation and timing for the growth.
[Patented document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Tokkai No. 2000-350275 (Abstract)
[Patented document 2] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Tokkai No. 2001-250045 (p. 22, FIG. 17)
[Patented document 3] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Tokkai No. 2003-255991 (p. 6, FIG. 9)
[Non-patented document 1] NEC Personal Robot Research Center, “NEC's robot technology”, [online], 2003, NEC Corporation, retrieved on Feb. 20, 2004, Internet URL: http://www.incx.nec.co.jp/robot/sikumi/01.html